Alone in Your Company
by Seishin No Hime
Summary: Have you ever felt so utterly alone while be surrounded by people who love you? The feeling of utter helplessness as you watch the person you love Fade away before your eyes and don't know how to stop it from happening. Something was consuming her soul from the inside and she had no way to stop it. They were running out of time and this time it's Mai's life that's on the line. MXN
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I've been procrastinating about whether I could handle writing a one-shot for Ghost Hunt on top of all of my AS coursework. After attempting to do my homework, I finally decided that I'd much rather be writing and so here I am.**

**I suppose this is kind of fluffy but it has some deeper messages if you really read between the lines. I didn't add this to my collection of One-shots **_'Reflection of a Mask'_** because it's written in a different kind of style and so I didn't really think that it would fit.**

_We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone._

_**-**_Orson Welle

**Alone in Your Company**

_**By Seishin No Hime (Sei)**_

Running. I'm running and I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop. I want to. My lungs burn with exertion, my chest rising and falling rapidly to accommodate my ever-growing need for oxygen. It's dark tonight and I can barely make out the outline of trees, gnarled and rotting with spidery cracks littering the trunk, as speed up, pushing my lungs to their limit.

I feel as though I will collapse any minute but my mind screams at me to keep running. I will die if I stop, stopping is dangerous so I won't.

What am I running from? The darkness is littered with creatures that are too unimaginably frightening to put into words. The darkness itself seems to contort and fold in on itself, forming red eyes and a gruesome mouth, set in a snarl, yet looking like it wants to scream in pain and horror that is so terrible that I don't even want to try and guess at what it is.

I am terribly afraid. I am afraid of being caught by my own fear. After all, what else is there to be afraid of apart from fear itself? Without fear, how would one possibly ever be afraid. I am afraid of being fearless. To be fearless is to be reckless and to be reckless in to be in danger.

One can not truly be afraid of nothing. People can pretend that they are comfortable in the dark only to cry themselves to sleep when they really think about what lingers just beyond the barrier of the imagination. You can say that you're not afraid of death but when you lay on you death-bed what do you think about. Do you think of how you will no longer exist? How everybody you care about will cease to think about you, forget your very existence?

I am afraid of dying, I realise with a start. The realisation causing me to trip and stumble and then I am falling.

Only I can't see the ground, below me is only blackness. A never-ending pit of blackness that will swallow me whole if I give it the chance. I scream. At least I think I scream but no sound escapes my suddenly parched lips and I know that there is nobody around that could possibly help me. There is nobody around _at all._

I shift, hugging my knees to my chest and willing myself not to fall apart as I fall to my inevitable death. The ground is nearing, I can feel the energy of living creatures around me and I do not open my eyes when my back hits solid ground, wet grass cushioning my fall only slightly.

I am not alone. I can feel numerous pairs of eyes on me and hear the laboured breathing of _something_ close by. I still do not open my eyes as I pull myself to my feet, ignoring the tearing pain that shoot through my right arm as I try to use it to support my ascent.

Now I am not afraid of death. I am afraid of being alive. Of having to face what is beyond my eyelids and recognise it as reality. It is real. The sensation of the grass beneath my feet and the wind through my hair is too realistic to be dreamed.

I am surrounded and yet I have never felt more alone. I want to my friends again, It has been too long since I have seen somebody smile and I blame it on the amount of time that I spend sleeping. I am always sleeping these days. It is too painful to stay awake. I don't know why I feel the pain that I do, if I did something that has made me deserving of this punishment. Never the less, I find it difficult to smile now.

I stumble backwards, now aware on some plane of consciousness that this is not really happening. I am dreaming but I don't know how to wake up. My mind is creating these horrors in response to something that I have obviously done. I wonder if my waking body is showing any signs of distress. Am I crying? Am I talking in my sleep? Or am I just laying there, pale and motionless as I have been for the past year and a half. Are the people that surround me even aware of the emotional turmoil that I suffer every waking moment?

The deformed figures move towards me with agonizing slowness and I know that only way to escape this is to stay completely still and try not make any sudden movements that may startle them and give them actual reason to attack me. I don't know whether I am afraid or not any more.

The logical part of my brain tells me that this isn't real and to be afraid would be utterly ridiculous and yet in the same breath I'm afraid of waking up and having to face another day of agonizing loneliness. Human beings aren't meant to be alone, we are created as two halves of one whole that were never meant to separated.

I think of Naru. What must he be feeling right now? Does he even remember my name? What I look like? I like to think that his life has been better, happier since he returned to his family in England. After all, they are the only ones who can even come close to feeling the emotional pain that he feels over his brothers death. They lost a son,albeit an adopted one, just the same as Naru lost a brother.

I am a selfish person. I know that being in Japan causes Naru pain, that every waking second he sees something that reminds him of the place where his brother met his untimely end. Still, I wish he had though about what his leaving did to me. Did he ever think about the emotional distress that his leaving would cause me. Above all, I wish that he would be able to love me the way that I love him.

Telling Naru that I loved him still remains to be the best decision that I ever made. He may have broken my heart by asking me is I loved him or Gene but I would have killed myself with regret if I had never gotten around to telling him. I would constantly ask myself '_What if?'_ I am at least happy in the knowledge that Naru knows of my affection for him. I don't want Naru to feel like he's alone, I don't want him to think that there is nobody around that loves him.

Is there anybody that feels that way for me? Is there anybody out there that would do anything to take away my pain? Anybody that lives just to see me smile someday?

I often think about these things. I have so much spare time now that I live inside my own mind so I have all the time in the world to think about these meaningless things. I wonder if there is anybody who is waiting desperately for me to wake up. Is there somebody sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair that is inevitably sitting beside my bed? I like to think that there is.

I remember the days just after Naru left, when I was still numb from the shock and oh so naïve, so sure that he would come back for me as long as I gave him time to grieve. I remember writing him a letter, one that is still incomplete to this day because I am simply unable to put my feelings for him into words. Now I have no idea where it is. I don't know where any of my stuff is, probably in storage somewhere because I am no longer able to pay the rent on my apartment.

Now, as I kneel before the creatures that encroach on me, I smile in the hope that I am making somebody feel just a little happier. It is a foolish hope but is is all that I can do in my time of weakness.

I lay my palms flat on the ground and tell myself that this is a dream and that if I really wanted to then I would wake up. I feel the pull on my subconscious before I see the surroundings melt away, once again leaving me in the dark prison of my own mind. It is by no means better than where I was before but it is a suitable compromise.

So I continue to wait. Wait and hope that somebody will come and save me from myself.

**Naru's POV**

My days bleed into one with sameness and I consider the fact that I was wrong in my decision to return to England. I don't consider it for long, my parents needed me close in this time of mourning and I needed to feel closer to my brother. I can't bring myself to regret my decision because it what was best for all parties involved.

I remember Taniyama Mai's confession clearly, word for word and with perfect clarity. I remember the hope shining in her eyes as she told me how she felt and the heartbreaking sadness and tears when I questioned who it was that she really loved. I had to do it though. Finding out that Mai had been able to communicate with Gene for as long as I had known her was a shock. I remember the feeling of betrayal when I thought that she had dared to keep something so important from me.

Now, just over two years later, I wonder how she is doing. Has she managed to get over Gene and fallen in love properly this time? Is she still in contact with the rest of the people that worked with SPR? Is she well?

I am broken from my musings by a quiet, polite knock on my door. I sit up and tell the person that they can enter. Lin pushes the door open and walks over to were I am sitting, admiring a picture of SPR that Mai gave me before I left. He doesn't speak for a moment, instead deciding to look upon the thing that had currently captured my interest.

Then he places an envelope on the bed beside me.

"It's from Japan, addressed to Naru, not Oliver or Kazuya. I don't know who sent it but I feel like it's important," Lin said, already beginning to move back towards the door. Before he left completely he nods towards the envelope and then pulls the door shut.

I stare at it for a while before even daring to open it. It's faded and creased, like it's been handled a lot and the writing on the front is clumsy with inexperience. I am intrigued. I want to know what it's about so I open it and pull a single sheet of paper that had been likely folded many time before it found it's way to me.

The letter is written in Japanese, unlike the address on the front but the language comes back to me naturally and I read the clumsy script, It is not lengthy.

_Oliver __ Naru,_

_I miss you,__ How are you, have you settled back in alright?_

_There is is something that I want to tell you but I'm not quite sure how I should word it._

_My dreams have become frightening and I have them much more often now. I am afraid, I feel as though soon I will be unable to wake up from them. Gene is gone, I'm glad that he's been able to move on. The dreams without him have a frightening intensity, they feel like chains. The more dreams I have, the more it feels like I will not be able to leave someday soon._

_Just last night I struggled to wake, like I was forcefully being held back, something didn't want me to leave. I'm scared that I am no l longer safe even inside my own head. I've told nobody of this development, I fear that they will see me as crazy. As it is, I will never actually send you this letter because I do not have the courage._

_There is something out there that is bigger than we have ever seen before and already I know that soon I will be too weak to hold it back._

_I don't want it to hurt me... I don't want to be afraid but I am._

_Mai._

At first I am shocked. The letter makes no sense, at least, there is no logical pattern that my mind has been able to identify.

Mai. Taniyama Mai is the one that wrote this letter. The experience that she describes is confusing. She says that something is able to physically stop her from leaving the astral plane.

Then there is the fact that Mai states in the letter that she will never send it. This leads me to believe that either she has changed her mind or the letter has been sent without her permission.

The one thing that I know for certain is that I need to go to Japan. Mai is in danger from something is far beyond my current understanding and I don't know if I'll even be able to help her.

How long ago was the letter written? How far has the situation progressed between that time and now. I cannot be sure but I will find out. I need to know that she is alright. I was fine with the decision to come back to England because I was under the impression that she would be okay. She had her pseudo-family who would protect her from any harm that she may inadvertently stumble into.

Mai sounded so alone in that letter. I am unable to comprehend how she has ended up with nobody to rely on. How is it that she can be surrounded by so many people who love her and still manage to be alone?

Tonight I would pack and tomorrow myself would make our way to England.

I have to get to the bottom of this. This is so much more serious that before, the stakes have been raised and now Mai's life is in danger. She had to alright. She _has _to.

**So that's the end of this part of this two-shot. I hope you enjoyed reading it, in any case, thank you for taking the time to read my story.**

**Please leave me a review, letting me know what you think and your theories on just what is really going on.**

**Sei x**


	2. Chapter 2 - Fight your Demons

Alone in Your Company

Chapter 2 - Fight your Demons

**Well this is update is much sooner than I would have thought. I didn't expect this story to be so well received and I was pleased with the response I got from the first chapter.**

**Because of this I have decided to turn this into a multi-chapter story instead of my original intention for it to be a two-shot.**

**Lets get onto reviews then:**

_**emily. – **_**Thank you for reading and reviewing, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

_**NaginiFay – **_**Here's part 2 for you then! Thank you for taking the time to read and review :)**

_**Celestial Star12 – **_**I won't say anything at this point about whether Mai will die or not but let me know if you have a preference for the ending. Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

_**14AmyChan – **_**Your enthusiasm made me smile, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you for reading and reviewing as well as following :) Let's hope that Mai-Chan will be okay, ne?**

_**WhipserToTheWolves – **_**Here's your update, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter :) Thank you for reading and Reviewing!**

**Thank you to anybody who Faved/Followed this story and/or added me to there Fave/followed authors list!**

**Mai's POV**

I'm alone again. Not that I expect anything else really, I don't remember a time when I wasn't alone. My time with SPR -my supposed family- seem like such a distant memory and the pictures are blurry and grey, flicking past my eyes as I try to recall them.

Where am I?

It would be too easy for me to simply be alone on the plane of my own consciousness, instead my own mind decides to torture me with terrors until I am simply to exhausted that I can no longer even be afraid.

What am I saying? Even when I am so tired that I can not think coherently I am still terrified. I know that if I close my eyes then I will only be shown something even more horrifying than the terror that made me so void of energy in the first place. The nightmares started so long ago now that I can no longer remember a time when I lived without them.

Do you know how it feels to be conscious that you're within a nightmare but unable to tell your body to wake up. Nowadays I would be relieved to wake in a cold sweat, so terrified that I am unable to get back to sleep. However, it was too much to ask to be able to wake up. My body is no longer my own to command it to do as I please. My conscious form looks as peaceful as is possible. Nobody on the _outside _is aware of the torture that my mind goes through on a daily basis.

Today I am relieved. The torture that I will have endure today is one of the lesser of the ones that has previously been inflicted on me. Today I am simply hiding from the axe-murderder who intends to chop my body into tiny pieces and hide it within the walls of the vast mansion in which I try to desperately conceal myself from him.

After having this particular form of visionary torture several times I have learned that the man's name is Hideki Kitamura. I am alleged to have murdered his wife and only child so now he wants to take revenge on me. He tells me this story slowly as he stalks through the mansion, leaving out no details of how he will brutally decapitate me.

Hideki doesn't scare me. I know that he will find me, he will slowly cut off each of my fingers as I scream for any sort of mercy and try to explain how I am not the person whom has wronged him. He will not listen, I know this much from experience. However this form of torture isn't as bad as some of the others because in the end I will die and then I will be free for a few hours to wallow in my own self-pity and terror.

This time I hide in the bedroom inside the ornate wardrobe and pray that he will kill me quickly.

"Mai-Chan, our little game of hide and seek is almost over and then I will show you how it feels to be murdered in cold blood!" Hideki cries. His voice is psychotic and I know without a doubt that this man longer holds even a shred of humanity or compassion. Still I feel sorry for him. I don't if he is real but I know that he must have felt the same pain I did when my family was torn away from me.

I find myself wanting to comfort the man even as he describes to me in detail how he will remove each of my limbs and hide in different places throughout the spacious house. I can here movement in the room and I am sure that he has found me, I am not afraid that he will kill, instead I am assured in the thought that I will once again be returned to the darkness and away from the torture of my own thoughts.

The door opens suddenly and I stay completely still in the corner of the wardrobe waiting for my torture to begin. For every second that nothing happens I feel my confusion increasing but I refuse to open my eyes knowing that this is just some sick ploy to prolong my torture and make it worse than it ever has been before.

When nothing happens still I decide to open my eyes. I am so shocked by the sight that greets me that I am forced to blink to make sure that I'm not seeing things. It turns out that I am not because before me, only a metre or so away stands a very confused looking John Brown. My brain doesn't stop to question how he can possibly be here when I am trapped within my own head, I am much to elated to be seeing somebody whom I considered to be family for so long.

I launch myself into his arms feeling tears that I have held at bay for so long finally sliding down my cheeks. I laugh and the sound makes my spirit seem so much lighter, I can't help letting a wide grin spread across my face.

Johns arms wind around my back and and I here him laugh as well. I try to turn to look at him so that I can tell him how much I've missed him but find that I can't. He laughs again and this time the sound makes me freeze, it is cold and it holds a malicious tint of humour.

Now I am panicking as I try desperately to escape his grip but the effort turns out to be fruitless. Every time I struggle his grip just becomes tighter and soon it is suffocating, the tears falling from my terrified eyes increase in volume, this time from pain instead of happiness.

"J-John..." I manage to choke out, only one of his hands is holding me now and I feel something cold and metallic at my throat. He has a knife, I realise, and he is going to use it to cut my throat. I will still die, it is just made that much worse that this time it will be at the hands of somebody that I used to trust with my life.

I feel the metallic kiss of the cold blade it is slides gently across the front of my throat. He will not kill me quickly, instead he will prolong my torture, I note this mentally as I feel a think ribbon of blood begin to run down the exposed skin of my neck.

I am still crying and I know that any attempt to stop will be futile so I continue to let the tears fall knowing that after this I will have no other outlet for my pain for a while. This is the first time since being trapped in this limbo that I truly wish to die, I beg mentally that John will just kill me and leave instead of creating more and more painful memories with each second that he prolongs my torture.

The blade slices again, deeper this time but I don't cry out in pain, used to feeling so much worse usually when I am physically tortured. It is only when John speaks that I let out an involuntary whimper.

"Mai-Chan, I'd say I was sorry only I'm not," he says cruelly as he finally pulls the blade away and plunges it into my heart, then he spins me around and I see his face properly. He is smirking as he watches me fall to the floor, not even bothering to try and stem the bleeding.

What he does next comes as a complete surprise. Still smirking, he turns the blade on himself and plunges the blood-stained knife into his own heart. His injury is much more severe than my own so I watch him bleed out and the life slowly drain from his eyes as I slowly crawl towards my own demise. Just before he dies, I see a remnant of the old John return to his pale blue eyes and they hold so much terror that I once again begin to cry.

He has broken me. I've gone through so much torture since arriving in this eternal limbo but nothing compares to having somebody whom I used to love dearly, kill me with clearly intended malice. The only thing possibly worse is watching him kill himself afterwards.

The last part of my spirit which was holding onto the memory of my friends, my family as an anchor,shatters into a million pieces and I am sure that I will never be able to repair it.

**Naru's POV**

My flight to Japan is delayed and I arrive a full two days after having received the letter from Mai. Upon actually setting foot in Japan again I am struck with the thought that I have absolutely no idea what I am supposed to do first. I came here without actually making a plan and now I stand outside the office that used to be Shibuya Psychic Research and truly think for the first time since deciding to come here.

Logically, my first stop should be either Matsuzaki Ayako or Takigawa Housho, the monk. Those two were the people who always seemed to be the closest to Mai during the period in which we all worked together.

I send Lin to question the priestess while I head over the Monk's house, hoping that he hasn't moved and that he is in because I don't have time to waste running around looking for him.

When I reach the residence I waste no time in knocking continuously until somebody opens the door. Surely enough the Monk answers after a few minutes and stands there just looking at me for a few minutes before inviting me in and offering tea. I turn him down while making myself comfortable on the sofa, partly because I believe the situation is much to urgent to be contemplating beverages and partly because the mention of tea brings back unwanted memories of when Mai was still my assistant

"So Naru, what brings you back to Japan? Why didn't you contact any of us that you'd be coming back?" the Monk automatically questions when I am sat opposite him. At first I don't answer, unsure of how I should word what it is that I have to say and make it sound as important as it sound in my head.

"This isn't a friendly visit and it most certainly wasn't planned. Tell me Takigawa-san, do you know where Mai is right now?" I ask outright, I know that beating around the bush will get me nowhere and I am desperate for answers.

At the mention of Mai's name Takigawa's face falls. Automatically I know that his response is going to be negative but I wait patiently as several emotion cross his expression and it eventually settles on despondent. I know that this is a bad sign, the monk has always one of the more cheerful people in the ragtag team of ghost hunters and he was rarely properly serious.

"Mai... Mai went missing not long after you left. I don't know exactly what happened but gradually she just began to drift away. When we did see her once, a few weeks after you had left, she had dark circles under her eyes and ran away as soon as she spotted us." The Monk stated, not looking at me and instead deciding to focus his attention on the pale green carpet at his feet.

This was not what I had wanted to hear. It seemed that nobody within the once close knit group of ghost hunters would be able to disclose Mai's where abouts to him. There was one other thing that I needed to address while I was with the Monk. The letter. I think he deserved to know what was going on because I know that Takigawa once had a very strong relationship with the girl.

So I gave him the letter and watched his facial expression change as he read the few short paragraphs. He looked more and more distraught and angry with every second that he spent reading and when he finished he simply let the paper fall to the ground. He didn't speak straight away and I allowed a while to think about what he had just read.

When he did look up the pain in his eyes was completely revealed and I almost blanched at the the amount of emotion that I saw in them, however, the stoic façade that I'd spent years perfecting came into play automatically and I simply sat stoic, waiting for him to speak.

"Wha... How...What is this Naru?" he finally said, looking so completely lost that the expression didn't belong on a fully grown man's face.

"This is why I'm back in Japan. Mai's in trouble and things just got a whole lot worse because we have no way of knowing where Mai actually is or if she's even still alive." I say, trying to stop any emotion from leaking into my voice. I know I am unsuccessful when he looks at me hearing the slight crack in my voice before I am able to cover it up.

"We have to tell the others," he says and for once I agree completely with what he is saying. When we leave I will contact Lin and see if he has found out anything from Ayako, then following that I will set up a meeting with all of SPR's previous employees and fill them all in the situation.

We are going to need all of the help we can get with this new case. We have no idea what our time frame is, where our location is or even how dangerous our spirit is. Worst of all, Mai's life could be in serious danger and we have no idea where to begin.

I hope sincerely that she is able to hold on until we find her, a world without Mai will be like a world without smiles or sunshine. I can't another person after Gene. I just can't.

**That's the end of Chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will continue to read.**

**I sorry to anybody who likes John, I didn't really like portraying him in a bad light, actually it was really difficult since John is such a nice character! **

**Next chapter: SPR gets back together and they start their search for Mai. A hospital with a patient who's room cannot be entered because an automatic hypnotic suggestion forces them to turn away and the most difficut challenge yet for Mai as she faces a Gene who wants her dead.**

**Please leave me a review to let me know what you think and what you want to see in Mai's dreamscape next!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Sei x**


	3. Chapter 3 - Friend or Foe?

**Hello again everybody who is reading this story!**

**Here is chapter 3 of Alone in Your Company!**

**This chapter will have one small change to the rest of the chapters so far because it will contain a small Gene's POV. This is necessary so that you can see what leads to the happenings in Mai's POV.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any recognisable characters, settings, plot points etc... However I do own the story line of this particular fanfiction. No copyright infringement intended.**

_**We're born alone, We live alone, We die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.**_

_**-Orson Welle **_

_**~~~Alone in Your Company~~~**_

_**~#~Chapter 3: Friend or Foe?~#~**_

_**~~~By Seishin No Hime (Sei)~~~**_

**Gene's POV:**

I stare down at Mai's curled up form, she is currently being allowed some rest before the demon returns and begins her mental torture over again. Her hair is slightly longer than It was when I was her dream guide previously and flares out around her on the ground, her form is curled tightly in on itself, as if she is trying to protect herself from any harm that may come to her in her restful state.

I am confused. I don't know why the demon has allowed me to come and sit with her like this. For the past year and a half I have been trapped behind an invisible wall, able to watch her suffering but unable to do anything about it. I am confused but I am thankful. It is heartbreaking to watch her suffer at the hands of a malicious being whom she has done nothing to deserve this unjustified punishment from.

Every time I see her now, she looks more sick. Her hair has become thin and straw like, her cheekbones more pronounced and the shadows under her eyes seem never-ending. Beneath the pale pink sun dress which she wears I can tell that she is whithering away and she stumbles more often now, looking almost too tired to care about what is going on around her.

I don't know how to help her and I don't know how much longer she'll be able to hold on with the way things are going.

Again looking down at her I remember the events that took place earlier in the day.

_I watched, helpless as the demon took the form of Mai's friend, the catholic priest John Brown. It was heartbreaking to watch her finally let her guard down for the first time since arriving in this tormenting reality and then be stabbed in the back... or the front in this case._

_Once again I had to watch her die, slowly bleed to death while the tiny sliver of light in her eyes was extinguished and not be able to do anything. _

_I felt so useless. I could tell that she had been holding out that last little bit of hope for the friends that she had previously considered her family and now even that had been shattered. She had nothing else to anchor her and without that mental support I was sure that she wasn't going to survive for much longer._

_I watched as the demon came, stealthily like a cat slinking through the shadows to check if today's game was over. His face was indistinguishable but I could sense the victorious aura surrounding him, he was proud of himself for the way in which he was able to make her react and it made me feel sick to the stomach._

_I then observed with bated breath as he turned in my direction an beckoned to me by curling his index finger but not opening his mouth to speak. Then, he vanished without a word._

_Now I was confused, did he mean for me to come closer or was this just a trick, a way for him to pull me into his vicious game?_

_Still I walked forward, eager to see if I would actually be able to come to Mai this time, to be able to comfort her like I had wanted from the start._

At that time I had been happy but now I wish I considered what the results of my approach may have been. I never would have seen it coming but now it looks like I'm going to be Mai's next nightmare.

**Naru's POV:**

The meeting with SPR is short and concise.

The rest of the team agree that our first plan of action should be to search all of the hospitals in the area that Mai could possibly have been taken to. Matsuzaki-San's experience in the medical field will help us greatly here but still we agree that it would be the most sensible option to split up in order to gather as much ground as possible.

Lin and myself will travel together to Shibuya general hospital which I figure is the most likely place that we will find Mai seeing as she is an orphan and lives in the area.

The journey is short and silent, neither of us have anything to say and we are too tense to try and make small talk, not that we would have usually anyway. I am aware that we may well be running our of time, we have no idea what state we might find Mai in or how long she has been in a bad way for.

I tell myself that I am not worried but I know that there is no over scientific explanation that I can use to explain the tugging sensation in my gut when I think about the fact that Mai may be hurt. I can no longer pull the wool over my own eyes and expect myself to ignore the growing bond that I've had with the young brunette orphan who used to work for me since I first met her.

At first I didn't take Mai's confession seriously, sure that she was using me as a substitute for my dead brother. I was certain that she had fallen for his endearing smiles and was simply seeing the same face and transferring those feeling onto me.

However now, when I think back to the tears that she shed that day and her subsequent failure to turn up at the office or the airport again before I left told me that she was deeply hurt by what I had said to her. I still regret now the way in which I carelessly disregarded her feelings in order to protect not only my heart but my pride as well.

When we do finally arrive at the hospital I waste no time going in and inquiring after Mai at the front desk. It doesn't take me long to get a result and without hesitation I head towards room 224 on the 3rd floor.

I am stopped by a doctor before I can enter the room. His face is worried and gaunt, I briefly wonder what has made those emotion appear on his aged face.

His exhales noisily before beginning to explain, "We tried to take Taniyama-San off of life support yesterday but since then nobody has been able to enter the room. The nurse that tried to unhook the machine is currently in critical condition in ICU. We aren't sure what exactly happened but we are worried about the welfare of the rest of the patients," he explains.

I am intrigued, this definitely sounds like something to do with the supernatural. "What has happened since then?" I ask, trying to at least partly figure out what is going on. It sounds as though there is something haunting this particular room but I cannot be too sure and I don't even know if this particular case is a hoax or not.

The doctor looks relieved that I am willing to hear him out. "This is the confusing part. I have sent many people to this room but I always find them on another ward an hour or so later with absolutely no recognition of ever being told to enter the room. It's like something is diverting there thought processes in order to stop them from getting too close."

There is nothing that I will be able to do by myself, I turn to Lin to confirm that he is already on the phone to the other members of the team, arranging for them all to meet here as soon as possible. We will have to talk about what to do with Mai's room and the spirit that is possibly haunting it.

For now I watch her through the observation window outside the room. She is hooked up to numerous different machines and she looks so pale and thin that I would think she was dead if it where not for the rhythmic rising and falling of her chest in time with the machine that is hooked up to the breathing mask that covers half of her face.

She is frighteningly pale, so much so that I find it difficult to tell her skin apart from the sterile white hospital covers that her arms sit upon. Her face is white as a sheet, her cheekbones more pronounced and her eyes sunken within there sockets give her an appearance of having passed onto the next life.

The thought is terrifying. I stop before it can continue.

I decide that I will chance an attempt to enter the room. The door is close and I push it aside easily, warily placing one foot in front of the other and eventually entering the room. Before I can even make it two steps into the room the alarms on the machines keeping her alive begin to beep wildly.

I retreat quickly, wishing that I had never tried in the first place. As soon as I am safely outside the room once again the machines calm down.

I come to a frightening realisation. Mai will die if any of us try to enter that room. This spirit is not to be underestimated, it seems as though we are dealing with something more powerful that we may have originally anticipated.

We're going to have to be careful.

**Mai's POV:**

This time when I wake I feel more rested than I ever have previously. The air around my feels warm but I hesitate to feel safe when I know that I will never really be completely safe in my own mind.

I sit up slowly, treasuring the feeling of being able to take my time and glance around me. I am surrounded as usual by the pitch black that consistently greets me before and after I enter a vision but the sight is comforting, It means that I am not yet fighting for my life.

I feel rather than see or hear the movement behind me and spin around, dread already filling my every sense as I prepare to meet a new cruel fate but I am greeted by darkness.

I stand, wishing that my limbs didn't feel sluggish from resting and attempt to back away from where I perceived there to have been movement. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a blurred movement but again when I turn there is nothing but blackness.

Without warning the tendrils of terror begin to take control of my rational mind. I find myself stumbling backwards quickly, trying to get away from something that I can't even see. It is then that my eyes meet a pair of familiar cerulean orbs.

The pale face and black hair become visible next and my mind automatically retreats in on itself praying that It's not true, that Naru is not going to be the one to kill me next. I am not so lucky. It is indeed Naru who stands before me and this time there are no fake formalities, no pretence that everything is going to be okay.

Naru is grinning maliciously as he steps towards me. His expression is mocking and I try to convince myself that I should be much more afraid but I can only bring myself to feel saddened and betrayed. I was okay with being killed a thousand time over, I was even okay with being murdered by somebody that I considered a friend and a part of my makeshift family.

I never expected to be faced with the person that I loved but I guess that would be the logical next step seeing as there is no other way which I can be hurt any more than this.

As he approaches I notice that there is conflict in his eyes. It's almost like he doesn't want to kill me but he is being forced to, that is ridiculous though. He has betrayed me and now he wants to kill me. This is the only knowledge that I am confident in at this point.

Still he appears to be fighting with himself. This inner conflict does nothing to slow his approach though and all too soon he is standing right in front of me.

Suddenly the scene changes and I am standing in the middle of a road in the middle of the night. I barely have time to think about why I might be here because suddenly I am blinded by a pair of headlights from an incoming car that seems to approaching much too quickly.

I am hit with an indescribable pain and then I am being wrapped roughly in carpets and pushed into what I think is the trunk of a car. The short journey is blurry for me because I am too focussed on my pain and too surrounded by darkness to be able to identify anything around me.

All too soon I am being pulled out of the car and dragged carelessly towards the edge of a cliff. There is a sudden feeling of weightlessness as the person gives me one last shove and then I am falling. I hit the water quickly and my body becomes paralysed with shock, the water is freezing! I know without a doubt that this is how I will die this time. I will drown because I am unable to call for help and even if I did nobody would hear anyway.

Before I die, I croak out one last thing, "Naru...Why..?" And then there is darkness.

Gene's POV:

I come to the horrifying conclusion that I will be the one to kill Mai when I am forced to move towards her against my own will. She is terrified one minute and then her expression fills with betrayal and sadness. I also see acceptance, she doesn't even seem to be afraid.

The next terrifying thing that I notice is that the way in which she is going to die is sickeningly familiar. She is going to relive my own death.

It is a horrible way to die and my heart aches for her because I know how it feels and now I am only able to watch it happen once again.

Her last words send a shock through my system. She doesn't know it's me, she thinks that it's Noll who has tried to kill her today.

There is one thing that I know for sure. I need to talk to Noll, he needs to know what's going on and he needs to know now.

I only hope that I'm not already too late.

**That's the end of chapter 3 guys! I hope you don't hate me too much for once again being as cruel as humanly possible to Mai. I promise that the torture will slow down and stop as well as being explained soon.**

**So we also get to see a little bit of Naru's feelings in this chapter.**

**Review and let me know what you think please!**

**Sei x**


	4. Chapter 4 - Drowning in Hope?

**First of all for this chapter I would like to say thank you to my three faithful reviewers, these are the three authors/readers who have read and reviewed every single chapter so far: _NaginiFay, WhisperToTheWolves and 14AmyChan! _Thank you so much! Cookie for you!**

**I hope you enjoy the new chapter of Alone in your Company!**

**Reviews: **

_NaginiFay: Yeah, they finally found her! Hopefully now they can finally start doing something to help her, ne?Thank you for reading, have a cookie!_

_**WhisperToTheWolves: I know it's depressing but it should get a little better now, I agree, Gene should tell him soon! Things should start looking up from here on out. Thank you for sticking with the story even though it's depressing! Thanks for reviewing :)**_

_14AmyChan: *Pats you on the head* Please don't cry, I hope this chapter makes you feel a little better as things start to look up for Mai. Thank you for sticking with this story and reviewing along the way. *gives you a cookie*_

_**Uchiha Tsunako: I agree and feel a little bad for making Gene see Mai go through that and also for Mai herself! Thank you for reviewing!**_

_Yukihime88: Hope this makes up for the cliffy at the end of the last chapter, here's the next chapter for you!_

**We're born alone, We live alone, We die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion that we are not alone.**

**-Orson Welle**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Ghost Hunt, understood? **

**Alone in Your Company**

**Chapter 4: Drowning in Hope?**

**By Seishin no Hime(Sei)**

**Naru's POV:**

**(When reading this listen to **Voices **by **Yoko Kano, **preferably the English version but the Japanese version is good too. It helps to set the mood for the scene.)**

Everything happens so quickly that I am unable to keep up with what is going on.

There is a deafening shrieking noise as Mai's room begins to slowly fill with water. The murky substance seems to come from the once clean linoleum flooring without any clear source. It's not nearly enough water to pose any threat to the girl who is clearly elevated out of it's reach, still safely on the hospital bed.

I feel a minute vibration from my pocket and slip my hand in expecting it to be my cell phone with one of Mai's worried friends on the other end but it turns out that I am wrong. The object that my hand comes into contact with is the small hand mirror that used to belong to my mother.

I remove the small object and inspect it closely, it has a thin spidery crack running from one corner right to the other corner and then widening outwards into a complicated system of even thinner cracks over the rest of the surface. My mind automatically goes to Gene, the only reason that the mirror would be effected would be if Gene was trying in some way to contact me.

When the face that could actually be my mirror image appears if is fuzzy and he looks panicked.

"Noll, I don't have much time..." Gene sputters out before his image momentarily disappears only to reappear again after a few seconds. I listen intently as he tries to tell me what he knows but is constantly disrupted by his image becoming distorted. I can feel that the worried frown on my face is becoming more and more prominent as I try to piece together what exactly he is trying to tell me.

His image once again reappears and this time he looks desperate, "He's trying to stop me from telling you about..." the manages to shout before he once again disappears and this time his image does not reappear.

I wait for a full four minutes before his face is once again present in the reflective device.

"Noll, He's a _Demon_! He's trapping Mai in her own head, you need Lin to perform the counter curse in order to ….." He stops talking but does not disappear, instead his eyes flash a violet-red colour and when he speaks again he sounds taunting, "You can't save her, It's already _too late!" _ In an instant it is Gene again and he looks exhausted.

"You Have to get Lin to counter the _X__īn cáng Zǔzhòu_!" It's the only way that Mai can be forcibly removed from her captive state!" Gene sounds more panicked than ever before he suddenly disappears and I know that he will not reappear so I replace the mirror in it's original position. The situation is suddenly even more crucial than it seemed before.

If Mai is actually under the influence of a Xīn cáng Zǔzhòu then depending on how long she had been in this state, she may be in great danger. I remember reading something about this particular type of Zǔzhòu before in a book called _Gǔlǎo de yìshù liànjīn shù: Rénlèi mèilì_. The book detailed how the particular kind of curse could only be used over a particular amount of time. Depending on the age of the vessel, the spell could be used over a different period of time.

Mai would be 18 now, meaning that her body could hold out for a maximum of about 18 months.

I find Lin quickly and tell him everything that Lin told me, making sure not to leave anything out. The expression on Lin's face suddenly becomes very serious and I know that breaking Mai out of this curse will be difficult.

As soon as I am finished explaining the situation Lin is on the phone to Madoka. I vaguely hear him tell her that he needs to to look something up for him in one of his reference books.

(^o^) … **AIYC**… (^o^)

The rest of the day passes quickly and the tension in the room is so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Lin has been in a private room for a while and It's been a few hours since I've heard anything from him. I gather from his behaviour that he has found out what he has to do and is now preparing the counter-curse.

I feel useless. The floor of Mai's room is still covered with a thin layer of murky water as nobody has dared to try and enter the room for fear of their own and Mai's lives. Her vital signs continue to look normal and it is almost as though she is merely sleeping, she looks peaceful but I'm not stupid enough to think that her state of mind is the same as the image projected on the outside.

I hope that Mai is not suffering too much. I know that before I left she was already troubled by her dreams as she was forced to live through countless deaths of people she had never met but never the less formed an attachment to.

(^o^) … **AIYC**… (^o^)

The rest of the team arrive two hours before midnight. Lin has yet to emerge from his current position and I can only hope that he will be finished soon.

I can tell that everybody is as worried as I am. The Monk's face is pale and he looks more tired than I have ever seen him. The Miko leans on him for support and I relieved to note that for once they are not arguing. The silence is welcomed at the same time as being completely stifling. Only Mai can bring the whole team together like this and only Mai could bring about this kind of solemn silence as they await her return to the living.

It is almost an hour later when Lin emerges looking exhausted but accomplished at the same time. I am relieved to see a talisman inscribed with something written in tradition Chinese, followed by what I recognise as the Kanji for Mai's name. (護身符逆轉一記藏咒術. **麻衣****o****谷山**)

He wastes no time in moving towards Mai's room and forcibly throwing the door open. Almost immediately the monitors begin to beep furiously but Lin doesn't stop his advance until he is right beside her bed.

He places the talisman beside Mai's head on the pillow and begins reciting an incantation, "Wǒ wèn nà zhòng shén tīng dào wǒ de qǐngqiú. Qǔchū zhèngzài jūzhù de chuánzhī ér bù yuàn yāo hé gōngzhèng de fǎtíng qūzhú tā. Fābù!" he shouts the last word and suddenly the room is silent.

The water that had been covering the floor for the better part of the afternoon and evening immediately begins to recede and I watch in relief as Mai's vital signs once again return to normal.

It looks as though she is now out of immediate danger.

**Mai's POV: **

I have been in the dark place for an in-ordinary amount of time. Usually my torture would have begun again by now. Then again maybe I am being given a break after being betrayed by the one person I thought I would always be able to depend on.

After being drowned I lost sight of Naru. I suppose that his murderous intent was enough to torture me mentally for now. I honestly wished that I would never have to see him again but in the back of my mind I knew that this thought would only make his appearances more frequent.

The changes begin so slowly that at first I do not notice. However, it doesn't take me long to finally notice the receding darkness around the edge of my self imposed prison. I don't know if this change means that I will soon be dragged into another vision or if it is a further stage of relief from the cruel torture that I have been forced to endure.

My own consciousness is the next thing that begins to recede and I muse that this shouldn't be possible because I am already completely unconscious, a soul that is trapped within the further corner of an unresponsive body.

The blackness is not imposing though and I do not feel scared as it takes me in it's gentle clutches. Instead I welcome the feather light touch that feels both soft and gentle and strong and secure.

I am startled to reason that I feel _safe. _

(^o^) … **AIYC**… (^o^)

When my consciousness begins to return I note that my limbs feel heavy. In the next second I also note that this is the first time in a long time that I have been able to feel an ounce of physical sensation.

The thought makes me freeze, an imperceptible stiffening of every single muscle in my body which sends a shooting pain through my legs, arms and shoulders.

Am I awake?

I dismiss the thought almost as soon as it enters my head. It is impossible for me to be awake, I have come to accept the fact that I will never again wake up from this never-ending nightmare. Although I still to this day cannot figure our what it is that I am being punished for I have simply accepted the fact that it must have been something terrible for my punishment to be this severe.

However, the aching feeling all over my body tells a different story. In some part of my mind I know that I must be awake and alive in some way for me to be feeling so much physical pain.

Another part of my brain registers that I am soaking wet, something that hasn't changed since I've apparently been released from my self-imposed prison. When I notice this I finally realise how cold I am. My arms are coated with goose bumps from their position lying above what could only by some sort of comforter and a shiver runs down my spine as I register the fact that although I have yet to open my eyes, I know that I am alone in the room.

I am not surprised, I am long passed expecting to have somebody here, awaiting my return. However, the realisation still brings the slow burn of tears to my eyes. Although I have given up hope on my family, somewhere in my heart I had hoped that they still had faith in me, that they still loved me.

Finally I am able to blink my eyes open although my eyelids are heavy and I automatically close them again when they are are assaulted by a bright light. It takes me a few minutes to get used to having my sense of sight back but soon I am able to take in the details of the room in which I lay.

As I expected it is a hospital, although I had already deduced as much from the irritating beep of the heart monitor that I could hear from somewhere nearby.

The room is empty save for a black jacket that is slung carelessly over an uncomfortable looking chair. The item of clothing is familiar and it sends a pang of fear through my heart to think that Naru could be here. At the same time I feel an intense longing, one that I have always felt when I am around Naru and that I cannot stop.

Lost in my thoughts as I was I didn't notice an ever familiar presence enter to room so when arms slid around my waist in a horrifically familiar gesture I do the first thing I can think of.

I scream.

**So that's chapter 4 of AIYC completed. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Mai is finally awake and in the next chapter we will see her interaction with the other members as well as how she reacts properly to Naru's presence at the bedside.**

**The incsription of the Talisman reads: **Talisman for the reversal of a mind possession incantation. Mai Taniyama.

**The chant that Lin speaks is: **I ask that the gods hear my plea. Remove the demon that is inhabiting a vessel which is unwilling and banish him before a court of justice. Release!

**Both are in Chinese!**

**Please leave me a review to let me know what you thought and if you liked it!**

**Sei x**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Unbreakable Curse

Alone in Your Company - Chapter 5: The Unbreakable Curse?

**Haven't updated for long time and for that I apologize profusely. This chapter has been sitting half-written on my laptop for as long as I can remember now. My AS exams are coming up in just a matter of weeks so most of my time goes towards studying for those. I know it was cruel because the last chapter was probably the biggest cliffhanger that I've written yet.**

**This chapter should be a lot more light hearted than the previous four because I'm gonna focus more social interaction than actual spirit mambo-jambo. In this respect I suppose it could be considered a sort of filler chapter.**

**This Chapter is dedicated to **AmyChan14** for being a very dedicated reviewer/reader, not only on this story but my other GH story as well.**

_Being alone can be a curse but at the same time being surrounded by people,if they don't properly know how to communicate can be just as stifling if not more so. People can feel as though they are trapped in social situations because they don't know how to communicate and feel as though they are unable to leave._

_**Alone in your Company**_

_**Chapter 5 - The Unbreakable Curse?**_

_**By Seishin no Hime (Sei)**_

**Mai's POV-**

Everything around me is happening so fast that I am unable to discern reality from fickle imagination. I am afraid but at the same time I am so irrevocably content as though nothing can touch me at all. Most of all I am in awe that I am once again able to be a part of the waking world, I was so sure that I would never again be able to blink me eyelids against intrusive natural light, never again be able to hear background noises that I would have once thought of as mundane or unimportant.

I can hear a high pitched keening, a scream of anguish and pain, not only physical but deeply emotional. I want the noise to stop but when I try to speak I realize that me voice is parched and aching with many months of misuse. I am the one who is screaming.

Why am I screaming? Surely I am happy that I am finally away from that place of eternal darkness.

I remember seeing a familiar article of clothing, a black jacket that sparked a distant memory. I wanted to pull more on that single thread of thought, unravel it to see what made it so but then somebody had wound their arms around my waist from behind. I was terrified. Had Naru come to finish the job? Come to kill me because he had been unsuccessful before?

I thought all of these things in just a fraction of section and in the next I had pulled away from the obtrusive embrace, swiveled round to see black hair and moved to the furthest corner that the constraints of my bed would allow. I was no longer screaming.

Naru cleared his throat, it was clear that he wanted to say something but I was on hyper-alert, when would he make his next move?

"Mai... I'm not here to hurt you", he finally managed to choke out, perhaps he is afraid that I'll try to run away. I won't. I am much to afraid to even move one muscle. I feel like a spring, coiled to the point that I would break should I be any more tense.

I don't believe his words, not even for a second. I know that he wants to hurt me, he showed me that without any hesitation not even 24 hours ago. He doesn't try to move any closer to me, probably sensing the tangible fear in the air. Now more than ever my innate animal instincts are screaming at me to move, flee a situation that my intuition tell me is dangerous.

Still I am unable to move. I am thankful that Naru seems to sense my unease and holds completely still, I wonder if he is even breathing.

I know I have to say something but I'm at a loss as to what. What could I say that would get me the answers that I truly seek? I cannot simply ask him why he isn't trying to kill me right now, a repeat performance of before.

"Why...? Are you lying to me right now?" I change my question before I have the chance to ask it. I don't want to give him any reason to change his harmless disposition towards me. His stance is relaxed and non-confrontational and so for now I let myself believe that he is no threat to me.

It doesn't last long, when he sees that I am starting to become comfortable with him he chances to take a step forward and I automatically tense all over again. I expect him to stop, hesitate in some way when he sees that I am uncomfortable but he continues to put one foot in front of the other, taking small measured steps towards my prone form.

Now I am at a loss for what to do, I cannot run because logically I know that I am already cornered and even if I did manage to maneuver around him Naru has longer legs and would be able to catch up to me in a heartbeat. He stops about a foot away from the bed, evidently giving me space to take in the new situation.

"Mai, you've been through something horrible. I don't know the specifics of what happened but I do know that you've been under the influence of a powerful demon. I need you to forget everything that he told you while he was inside your head. In a moment a nurse is going to arrive and I'm going to get the rest of the team, you have to remember that none of them have any ill intention toward you." His words are slow, as if he is explaining to a child and I find myself grateful in some corner of my mind that he is being considerate.

I nod in affirmation telling him that he can leave and I will be okay until the nurse arrives.

Only when he is gone do I let myself fully relax, I can almost feel that he is no threat to me, it feels as though he is being sincere when he tells me that he has no intention of hurting me. There is still a part of me that vividly remembers the look in his eyes when he tried to kill me in earnest and that part of me is finding it exceedingly hard to trust anything he says.

Now that I am alone I give myself time to think about how I will deal with meeting all of the others again at the same time. I'm sure that I will be unable to even look John in the eye. If Naru is right and what I was seeing was indeed being controlled by a spirit then using John as a tool to draw out my suffering was just too cruel.

John is one of the kindest and most compassionate people I have ever met and I know that he will be hurt that the work of a demon has destroyed the relationship that we once had. My heart hurts to think of the look in his eyes when I am unable to look at him, let alone have a coherent conversation without cowering in fear.

It saddens me greatly to think that the close bonds my make-shift family and myself had could be irreversibly damaged because of something that was totally beyond their control.

I could feel tears running down my face but I remained silent as a testimony to my deep-lying sadness. Even when my body began to shake with the force of the sobs I refused to make a sound. That was how the nurse eventually found me, drowning in the hope that I now felt was lost.

**Naru's POV - **

Her scream sends a shock through my system. She is scared of me, I have seen her sad and even furious, these emotions aimed at myself but never has she been scared of me before. It is not a pleasant realization and when she pushes me away furiously I see her eyes for the first time since I returned to England. They are terrified. If I had to liken the look I see in her eyes to anything it would be pure animalistic fear, fear that she was going to be serious harmed or come out of this meeting in much worse condition than that which she arrived in.

She is genuinely afraid of me, something must have happened for her to have these preconceived notions so deeply ingrained and it pains me to think of what she thinks I have done to make her fear me so.

I don't want to push her so I tell her that I'm going to find the rest of the team. I can tell that she Is unable to be completely comfortable when I am around.

Once I am fully out the room I allow what just happened to actually sink in. Mai is absolutely terrified, her fear is so deep-rooted that I am unable to tell if she can actually hear me.

I wonder how the others will react when they see Mai in the state that I have seen her in. For sure they will be shocked and probably more than a little upset and for a moment I dread being the one to reveal this new development to them.

The walk to the visitors station is short and soon I am met with the worried faces of the people I have begun to think of as my coworkers. They are not clambering over one another in order to find out Mai's condition, instead they are just staring at me expectantly, I know it must be taking them a great deal of patience to hold their tongues and decide not to keep them waiting anymore. The only person who is not actually looking at me is Lin, he is leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, I assume that he is extremely tired from having to perform the counter-curse not long ago.

"Physically, Mai is stable however I can not say as much for her mental state. Whatever she had been through it has been extremely traumatic and at this point we are still unable to identify what exactly Mai herself believes has happened." When I finish speaking I can feel some of the tension drain from the room. Although the group is worried about Mai's mental state, they are relieved to hear that she is out of immediate danger.

I turn to head back to her room, hearing the others stand to follow as soon as my back is turned. The journey is short and soon I am once again standing in the doorway of Mai's room. She is alone, I suspect that the nurse had already been and gone, and she looks more pale and drawn than when I left, the tear tracks on her cheeks lead me to believe that she has been crying in my absence.

I can see the exact moment when she realizes that she is no longer alone, her whole body tenses imperceptibly and she waits a moment before turning to face us. Her expression is more controlled than it was earlier and for a minute I think that she might actually smile but her face remains impassive. This is still better than the fear I saw when I was here earlier.

The first person to actually enter the room is Lin to my surprise. He approaches her with slow careful steps and she doesn't shy away from him like she did with myself. He reaches her side quickly and takes a seat on the edge of the bed. For a moment they just stare at each other but then Mai lunges forward and throws her arms around Lin and begins sobbing, harsh sounds that cause her whole body to shake.

Lin stiffens at the contact at first but quickly brings his arms around her shoulders and begins talking to her in low voice, I assume he is trying to get her to calm down. Nobody intervenes, we all just watch silently as the fragile girl cries and Lin tries to comfort her.

It takes almost five minutes for her sobs to become whimpers and further ten for them to settle into even breathes again.

She's pulls away from Lin and offers him a weak smile before seeming to steel herself and turning to face the rest of us. Her face is once again tear stained but her eyes hold a firm resolve, she has decided something.

"I'm... sorry", is all she says at first, it is quiet, no louder than a whisper but I'm sure that we all hear it none the less. She seems unsure of what to say once again but it is clear that she will speak in her own time so nobody interrupts. We watch her struggle to find the words for almost a whole minute before she lifts her head and states,

"I want to tell you what I saw."

**That's the end of this chapter, I know that Naru was very OOC in this but I found it particularly hard to write Naru when he is in a worried state of mind.**

**A little bit of Older brother Lin interaction, because I love this kind of relationship between them ^^**

**So Mai is going to reveal her own experiences! Let's hope that John isn't too upset and that Gene is able to convey the message to Naru that it wasn't actually him who tried to harm Mai.**

**Please review to let me know what you thought of this chapter, hopefully things will start picking up soon once we get past Mai's memories ^^**

**Sei x**


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